Pressure regulator and vaporizer, particularly for volatile liquid fuels



July 5, 1949. ENSIGN ET AL 2,475,087

PRESSURE REGULATOR AND VAPORIZER, PARTICULARLY FOR VOLATILE LIQUID FUELS Filed Sept. 29, 1947 3 Sheets-Sheet l zgpi y 1949. R. F. ENSIGN ETAL 5,087

. PRESSURE REGULATOR AND VAPORIZER, PARTICULARLY FG R VOLA'IILE LIQUID FUELS 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Sept. 29, 1947 fzvfinz azr fly 1 E HaralaZZZEn y 5, 1949- r R. F. ENSIGN ETAL 2,475,087 PRESSURE REGULATOR AND VAPORIZER, PARTICULARLY FOR VOLATILE LIQUID FUELS Filed Sept. 29, 1947 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 In a-011.5 IU ZT EHETJJ Harald ZZ/IEzzgEn bMLJ m Patented July 5, 1949 PRESSURE REGULATOR AND VAPORIZER, PARTICULARLY FOR VOLATILE LIQUID FUELS Roy F. Ensign, San Marino, and Harold W. En-

sign, Los Angeles, Calif., assignors to Ensign Carburetor Company, Huntington Park, Calif.,

a corporation of California Application September 29, 1947, Serial No. 776,844

6 Claims. (Cl. 257-2) I invention has to do generally with devices designed for reducing and regulating the pressure of fluids initially derived from a high pressure source, and more particularly for reducing and regulating the pressure of, and at the same time vaporizing, volatile fuels. The typical present use of the invention is with relation to feeding internal combustion engines with fuel gas; and the invention will therefore be explained in detail in a typical and illustrative form as designed for that particular use, but without limitation to that use except as may hereinafter be stated in the following claims. The invention herein, in some of its aspects, is in the nature of improvements upon the Liquid gas converter and regulator" on which Patent 2,248,222 issued on July In the use of such volatile fuels as propane and butane for devices requiring gas at a relatively low pressure, for instance internal combustion engines, several problems are encountered due to the large range through which the pressure must be reduced, and due to the fact that heat must be added to the expanding gases to keep them in dry gaseous form. These difficulties, and the general objectives of a vaporizing and pressure regulating device are more fully set out in said previously issued patent and need not be explained in detail here. The general objectives of the present invention are substantially the same as set out in said patent; the particular objectives include, among other things, the provision of a simpler and more efficient device for the purposes stated. Other objects and corresponding accomplishments of the present invention will best appear from the following detailed description of a preferred and illustrative form of the invention, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which Fig. 1 is an elevation, with parts broken away, of the improved regulator and vaporizer;

Fig. 2 is a section, at enlarged scale taken as indicated by line 2-2 on Fig. i;

Fig. 3 is a section, taken as indicated by line t-t on Fig. 2 but at the relatively reduced scale of Fig. 1 and having parts broken away for illustrative purposes;

Fig. 4 is a detail fragmentary section taken as indicated by lines 44 on Figs. 1 and 3, but at the enlarged scale of Fig. 2;

Fig. 5 is a detail fragmentary section taken as indicated by line 5-t on Fig. 1 but at the enlarged scale of Fig. 2, and

Fig. 6 is a schematic view showing the connecengine carburetor.

As shown in preferred design in the drawings the chamber forming portions of the regulator are made up mainly of a body member III which encloses the hot water chamber H and also the first stage pressure chamber l2; a secondary body member 13 which, with diaphragm i6, encloses the secondstage pressure chamber It; a cover I! lying over the second stage diaphragm l6 and forming a reference pressure chamber lia at the outer face of the diaphragm; and a device of some kind for applying reference pressure to the primary diaphragm I! which forms one wall of first stage pressure chamber 12. This last mentioned device may embody nothing more than an adjustable spring or a reference pressure chamber mounted in a cover for the primary pressure chamber. However it is here shown as a reference pressure device l8 which applies spring pressure as a reference pressure in such a manner that the reference pressure may be modified by the lubricating oil pressure of the engine. This device, which is the subject-matter of application Ser. No. 689,579, filed by Roy F. Ensign August 9, 1946 for Control of feed pressure for internal combustion engines, is not in and of itself a subject-matter of the present application, and so will be described only briefly.

The general function of device 18 is to apply a normal operating reference pressure to diaphragm ll only when the pressure on the lubricating oil of an engine has risen to normal or safe' operating value. The pressure side of the oil circulating line is connected at IBa to exert pressure on diaphragm IBb to move it to the right and thereby to apply the force of compression spring lflc to diaphragm II as a reference pressure. That reference pressure is suflicient to raise the equilibrium pressure in first stage chamber 12 to a value which will enable the second stage valve to pass fluid in full operating quantities. When the system is standing and no pressure is applied to diaphragm tab the reference pressure of spring I is withdrawn from diaphragm Ii. Diaphragm N then operates under the relatively light reference pressure of a permanently applied spring "id, or under no reference pressure at all except atmospheric. Under those conditions the equilibrium pressure in chamber I2 is relatively low. The pressure in i2 is one of the forces which tends to open the second stage valve; and with that pressure low, the second stage valve closes more tightly and prevents leakage under standing conditions.

The various parts which make up the main body of the device and enclose the various chambers are all secured together by suitable screws or studs, and with proper gasketing, all of which will be understood without the necessity of detailed illustration.

Body member ID is generally of flat circular form and, together with the wall of secondary body member l3, encloses a hot water chamber II which is generally annular in form and which contains the spirally coiled vaporizing tube 2|. Tube 2| is of comparatively large diameter and the coil comprises only a few turns, with the innermost turn of a large enough radius to surround the wall 22 which encloses the primary chamber l2. This wall 22 is preferably formed integrally with the other wall portions of body member Ill; and the configuration and arrangement are such that the walled chamber l2 extends into the central portions of water chamber II from one side of body member Ill. At that side of the body member, the primary chamber i2 has a relatively large opening which is closed by the primary diaphragm I1, and also has a relatively smaller opening to which the high pressure feed fitting 25 is applied. This high pressure feed fitting 25 supplies the high pressure fluid (which may be either liquid or vapor or a mixture) through strainer 25 to the passage 21 leading to valve seat 28 of the first stage pressure regulating valve. As here shown, the valve proper is in the form of a disk 23 mounted in any suitable manner on a valve lever 30 pivoted at 3| to an extension of fitting 25. The free end of valve lever lies under a U- shaped spring clip 34 which is attached to the diaphragm l1 and diaphragm plate Ila. Increase in pressure in chamber i2 tends to move diaphragm H to the left in Fig. 2 to close valve 29. Spring 34 is strong enough to close the valve against the high pressure which acts on the valve in a direction to open it; but limits the force that the diaphragm can apply to the valve lever in case the pressure in l2 becomes abnormally high for any reason. On decrease in pressure in chamber l2, diaphragm I1 moves toward the right. On that movement a member or pair of spaced members 33 engage the outer end of spring clip 34 to move that end of the spring toward the right with the diaphragm. The spring pressure on the end of lever 30 is thus relieved, allowing the pressure in valve 29 to open the valve. Although members 33 could directly engage the valve lever to move it in the opening direction, they preferably do not do so but merely move the spring to allow the valve to open.

Fluid enters the first stage pressure chamber l2 from valve 29 through a short passage which is formed by the extension walls 35 (see Fig. 3) and by a partition wall 35 which divides the entry passage from a passage 31 by which the fluid, at first stage pressure, leaves chamber l2 and enters the vaporizing tube 2|. The end 2la of the vaporizing tube communicates with passage 31 at a point which is well separated by partition 35 from the entry passage on the other side of that partition. It is found that this simple arrangement eliminates the resonant perpetuation of surges which may otherwise be set up in the operation of the device.

vaporizing coil 2|, surrounding primary chamber l2 and lying in the annular hot water chamber II, has its outlet end 2| b in communication with a passage 35 in body member I! (see Fig. 4). This passage 35 communicates directly 4 with a registering passage 39 in the body member l3 which encloses the second stage pressure chamber l4. Flow of the fluid through passage 39 and into the secondary pressure chamber is controlled by the second stage regulating valve 40 which acts to reduce the pressure in the secondary chamber l4 to the low pressure required for feed of a. carburetor or other as consuming device. a

The reference pressure on first stage diaphragm I1 is usually set to reduce the pressure on the fluid through the major part of its total range of pressure reduction; so that the addition of heat to the fluid at its first stage pressure will be suflicient to keep it in dry gaseous form through its expansion at the low pressure stage. Some heat is of course applied to the low pressure fluid by conduction through wall 20; but it is preferred to add suflicient heat at the first stage of pressure reduction so that heat which may be added at the second or low pressure stage need not be relied upon. The device as shown is very effective in adding heat at the first stage.

Any suitable fluid heating medium may be used in the hot water chamber II, but where the device is'used to feed fuel to an internal combustion engine hot water from the radiating system is used as the heating fluid. The hot water enters chamber ll through the connection indicated at 45 and leaves the chamber at the connection indicated at 45 (Figs. 1 and 3). The circulating hot water thus completely surrounds vaporizing coil 2| and almost completely surrounds wall 22 of primary chamber 12. It will be noted in Fig. 2 that this wall 22 is well spaced from wall 20 so as to allow hot water flow between the two walls. The interior surface of chamber wall 22 may be provided with projectin ribs 50 (see Fig. 2 and see the dotted indication of such ribs in Figs. 3) for the purpose of increasing the heat conductive surface.

The second stage valve 40 is composed essentially of a flat valve disk 55 and an annular valve seat member 55 which forms a continuation of passage 39 (see Fig. 4). The flat valve disk 55 is mounted on one end of pivoted valve lever 51 in such a manner as to have a loose or universal movement of adjustment to the valve seat. Valve lever 51 is pivoted at 55 to a mounting 53 that surrounds valve seat 55. A spring 55 applied to valve lever 51 supplies the uniform or normal reference pressure for the valve. In this particular instance, where it is designed to have diaphragm l5 only open valve 40 when the pressure in low pressure chamber I4 is sub-atmospheric, spring 50 is applied to valve lever 51 to act on it in a direction to close valve 40.

The secondary or low pressure diaphragm I5 is clamped at its edge between body member l3 and cover 15. The diaphragm thus forms one wall of low pressure chamber l4, and another chamber I5a is enclosed between the diaphragm and cover l5. Another sub chamber wall 5|, of thin sheet metal, lies to the left of diaphragm I5 in Fig. 2 and forms a sub chamber 14a immediately adjacent that face of diaphragm l5 which would otherwise be exposed directly in chamber l4. To transmit movement between diaphragm l5 and valve lever 51 a push pin which slides through wall 5| has commonly been used in the past, but it has been found that such a transmissive device is very apt to bind and thus to make the regulator unresponsive. In place of such a push pin I utilize a very simple form of hinge member, consisting of a small rod or bar bent into general hairpin form and passing at its bend loosely through an opening 6 la in chamber wall it. One leg 82 oi the hairpin hinge member bears against the free end of valve lever 51, and the other leg 68 rests against diaphragm it or its attached diaphragm plate iOa. An opening Gib (Fig. 2) is provided in sub chamber wall it to form a connection between main chamber II and sub chamber Illa. The effective size of this opening is controlled by a screw-threadedly adjustable pin W. Momentary changes of pressure may be effected in sub chamber Ila for the purpose of modifying the action of the diaphragm.

As shown in Fig. 5 a passage formed in the structure of body member ll communicates, via nipple 8i with the interior of sub chamber a. A suitable plug III with a calibrated orifice through it is located in passage 66, and a connecting tube or pipe 89 serves to apply modifying or controlling pressure to passage 88 and thus to sub chamber ila.

The chamber i501, enclosed at one side of diaphragm it by cover it, is the main reference pressure chamber for diaphragm l6, This chamber has a communicating tube II in communication with it for the purpose of controllably moditying the reference pressure in the chamber.

Reference now to Fig. 6 and a brief description of the operation of the device in feeding the carburetor of an internal combustion engine will serve best to show how the modifying controls are applied. In Fig. 6 the vaporizer regulator is shown as a unit at R, the high pressure fuel feed line is shown at 25a and the low pressure feed line 88 leads from the low pressure outlet fixture (shown at $5 in Fig. 1) to the gas intake of the carburetor. A typical carburetor as here shown has an air intake at iiil and a Venturi passage iii communicating with the air intake. Air flow through the carburetor is assumed to be upward, and throttle ii?! is located above the venturi. Low pressure gas line 86 communicates with a passage H6 from which the low pressure gas passes through gas oriflee il l under the control of adjustable valve I I5 into the Venturi throat. In a position just above throttle H2, and positioned so as to be uncovered to the engine suction when the throttle is in its illustrated idling position, there is a small port iii; and the previously described control tube 69 connects with that orifice. The increased depression in the engine intake manifold at idling is thus communicated via tube 69 to sub chamber Na and tends to move diaphragm l6 toward the left in Fig. 2, or up in Figs. 4 and 5. That movewent up tends to open the secondary valve 40 and thus to somewhat increase the gas pressure in low pressure chamber l4; thus providing the engine with the somewhat richer fuel and air mixture which is desirable for idling operation. The extent to which the depression thus applied to chamber Na is effective is controlled by the equalization of pressures between It and Ma through openings Ella and Bib in wall 8G.

The carburetor has a balance passage I30 communicating via a calibrated orifice i3ll with the air intake, and via another calibrated orifice I33, subject to adjustment if i, with the mixture passage at a point where the orifice is cut oil? from manifold suction when the throttle is at idling and exposed to manifold suction as the throttle opens. Control tube iii leads from reference chamber its to passage i3ii. Subject to modifications, the reference pressure in chamber IE1; is the same as the static pressure in the carburetor air intake. When standing idle, atmospheric Iii pressure on opposite sides of diaphragm l 8 allows spring to close valve 40. when the engine is turned over for starting with the throttle open, the depression at the Venturi throat, below the static pressure in the air intake and in the mixture passage above the venturi, is communicated to the low pressure chamber i4 and thence to sub-chamber Ila. That depression is suflicient to open valve 40 against the closing action of spring 60. With the engine in normal operation that relative depression in i4 and He is sufficient at all times to keep valve 40 open, its amount of opening depending mainly on the variation of the depression at the venturi, which in turn depends on the air velocity through the venturi. In the medium ranges of engine operation, with throttle H2 partly open, orifice I is subjected to a small depression from the engine manifold. That depression slightly lowers the pressure in balance passage I30 and in reference chamber 60, tending to move valve I slightly in a closing direction and thus cutting down the amount of fuel flowing to chamber I4 and to the carbureter, This action economizes on fuel by providing a relatively lean mixture in medium operating ranges.

These pressure controlling actions, under control of pressures existing in the carbureter, are the same as in Patent 2,248,222 and are not in themselves the subject matter of invention here.

We claim:

1. A unitary pressure regulator and heater including a'chamber forming structure comprising a peripheral wall, side walls, and a wall formation extending inwardly centrally from one of the side walls and surrounding a central pressure chamber, the walls also forming a substantially annular chamber around the central wail formation, a pressure responsive diaphragm forming one side of the central pressure chamber in the central wall formation, a pressure inlet communicating with the pressure chamber, diaphragm controlled valvular means controlling said inlet, an outlet for the pressure chamber, a tube coil of spiral form connected at one end with the outlet and lying in the annular chamber around the central wall formation, and means for passing heating fiuid through the annular chamber.

2. A unitary pressure regulator and heater as defined in claim 1 and in which the central wall formation which extends inwardly from one side wall is substantially cup-shaped with its cupbottom near but spaced from the opposite side wall, and with its open cup-top closed by the pressure responsive diaphragm.

3. A unitary pressure regulator and heater as defined in claim 1 and in which the central wall structure is provided with an internal partition which, with said wall structure, forms separated inlet and outlet passages communicating respectively with the pressure inlet and with the outlet.

4. A unitary pressure regulator and heater as defined in claim 1 and in which the central wall structure is provided with an internal partition which, with said wall structure, forms separated inlet and outlet passages communicating respectively with the pressure inlet and with the outlet.

5. A unitary pressure regulator as defined in claim 1 and also including wall structure and a second pressure responsive diaphragm enclosing a second pressure chamber having an inlet and outlet, the other end of the spiral tube coil being connected to said inlet, and valvular means con trolled by the second diaphragm and controlling said inlet.

6. A unitary pressure regulator as defined in 7 8 claim 5 and also including a perforated wall dividing the second pressure chamber into two REFERENCES CITED chambers one of which is immediately adjacent The following referenbes are f c d n m the diaphragm, and means for transmitting diame Of this Patent! phragm movements through said division wall to 5 UNITED STATES PATENTS the valvular means, said movement transmitting means embodying a member having two legs ex- Nmnber Name Date tending generally in the same direction from a 112831769 Hofstad 1913 leg-connecting bend, the bend passing loosely through a wall perforation and thus forming a 10 pivot about which the legs may swing.

ROY F. ENSIGN.

HAROLD W. ENSIGN. 

